


Family comes First

by b_s_s_rr_s



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (foolishly), Fix-It, Multi, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, it's called wish fulfillment written at 3am ok, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_s_s_rr_s/pseuds/b_s_s_rr_s
Summary: When two strange Campbell cousins come a calling, Mary Winchester wants to turn them away. Instead, she lets them inside, and changes more than she'll ever know.
Relationships: (IMPLIED), Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, John Winchester/Mary Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 222





	Family comes First

Mary Winchester's first instinct says to slam the door in her visitor's faces. 

_ Hunters _ , screams every bone in her body, hunters were at her door. She knows it by the way they stand, the look in their eye that she still sees in the mirror. 

Campbells, they say they are. In the area for a while, wanted to see their cousin. 

"I'm Benny." The shorter one smiles winningly even as the taller one rolls his eyes. Mary levels him with a stare, still holding the door barely a crack. 

"Oh I'm uh, Jo." says the taller one, scrambling, and the three of them politely ignore the lie. Mary fumbles for an excuse to send them away, though really she wants to put a shotgun to their faces, but then comes John. 

Sweet, stubborn John, who's never had a family to speak of and barely met Mary's besides. 

"Who might you boys be?" He asks like they're not all the same age, and Mary can't help a smile.

"Benny and Jo Campbell, sir. We're lookin' to move into the area and heard there was family around.." The shorter one thinks he's a charmer, and it's a shame Mary can't disagree. John is elated, lets them in right away, and Mary can't think of a good enough reason to stop them. 

They're polite, at least, these maybe cousins of hers, sitting in their living room with more grace than most hunters. 

Jo breaks down the family tree, running through Mary's aunt twice removed up to a cousin of sorts. John is fascinated; Mary and Benny are uninterested. 

He follows her into the kitchen, letting his brother keep John occupied. Mary braces herself; here comes the real reason they came, the offer that every Campbell adjacent visitor always brings. 

"You're expecting?" Her hands go to her stomach protectively, and Mary is acutely aware her handgun isn't in the kitchen. Benny seems to realize his mistake, at least, raising his hands in surrender. 

"Truthfully, my brother and I are actually from the area. Always wanted to come back one of these days, call it closure if you like. We're your family, Mary." Benny's eyes are sincere and mournful, and if Mary has doubted any part of her assessment, they leave the moment she meets his gaze. 

Mary, of all people, can't fault a hunter trying to leave the life, even if it means them coming into her own. Even if she knows, deep down, these two aren’t here to stay.

"John he… doesn't know anything. Keep it that way, and we won't have any problems." Mary informs her cousin, who smiles broadly. 

"Daddy!" Both their heads turn as small feet pitter into the living room. Mary can hear John picking up his son, probably showing him off to Jo. 

"You wanna meet my son?" Mary asks, and Benny must hear the offering, see the metaphorical olive branch, because he nods. 

Mary enters the living room ahead of Benny, grinning as a child shaped blur collides with her legs. Kneeling, she places her hands on his shoulders, noting that her son was already looking at the new stranger intently. 

"Dean, I'd like you to meet your uncles."

– 

The new Campbells moved in officially a week ago, and Mary invites them to dinner to celebrate. 

Dean loves the attention, ecstatic to have two new friends to talk to. Mary smiles gently as he babbles about his day helping John, the man himself giving minimal input. 

Benny seems the better of the two with kids, as he responds easily and quickly. Jo is quieter, stares a little more, and Mary doesn't want to know which of her theories about him are right. 

John takes her cousins to the back porch for a beer, either mindful or fearful of Mary's forced sobriety. 

She's sitting on the edge of Dean's bed, tucking her boy in and brushing his hair aside when the baby kicks. Dean likes feeling it, watching his new brother move under his hands.

"You think Sammy n' me will be just like Uncle Benny n' Uncle Jo?" Dean asks, with all the innocence that Mary never wants to see him lose. 

"I think you'll be a very special big brother.." Mary assures him, kissing his forehead. Sometimes Jo will flinch at little things and Benny will tense up on his behalf. Mary promises herself that her boys won't have that same instinct, will never need it as long as she's around. 

"Remember baby, angels are watching over you." Dean's nose scrunches up and Mary watches in amusement as he shakes his head. 

"Nuh-uh, it's just Cas." He insists, and Mary is stumped. Dean continues to insist the only angel there was Cas, but that's fine because Cas promises to look after her and Sammy and Dad, so only one angel was all they needed. 

Touched and a little teary, Mary gives her baby one more kiss to the forehead and leaves the room. 

If her husband and cousins refuse to be sober, then the least they can do is listen to her gushing. 

– 

Samuel Winchester makes his debut early, and her cousins arrive late, but they bring Dean so Mary is inclined to forgive them. 

Benny is right there by her bed with Dean, matching awe in their faces as they look at the squishy bundle that is the latest Winchester. John is telling Jo something excitedly, alternating between gesturing and crying. Jo seems amused at least.

Benny has Dean in his lap, and Mary hands them Sam, watching her boys size each other up. 

“You gotta protect him, ok?” Benny whispers, and Dean can only nod. Neither look away from Sam’s sleepy, blinking eyes, and Mary feels something tighten in her chest. Did Benny look at Jo like this, once upon a time? 

Mary was raised a hunter, but an only child, and she can’t imagine what Benny must’ve felt, having to look after Jo. Her resolve strengthens; her boys won’t go through that. 

Benny and Jo insist on having Dean stay with them until Mary and John can bring Sam home, and she’s too tired to protest. 

It’s become a habit, really, sending Dean and even baby Sam over to her cousins so she and John can finally just sleep. 

Mary can tell they’re becoming restless, her Campbell cousins, notices the little trips they take become more and more frequent. She doesn’t hesitate to let them in for dinner, doesn’t question the lingering smell of sulfur and ignores their injuries. 

Grifter work is what they tell John, who offers them a job almost immediately. Mary loves him a little more for it, even as their little arguments become just a bit bigger over the months. 

It’s August when Jo, gentle giant Jo, pulls her aside and suggests couples therapy. He’s talking about his own parents when he tells her about muffled arguments and drawn out disappearances, and Mary doesn’t like the comparison. She wants nothing in common with a couple who raised their kids to fight the monster under the bed, and she tells John they’re getting counseling over dinner that night. 

Halloween brings mixed feelings, years of letting Dean wander around in the cutest cowboy outfit easing some of her fears, but never quite all the way. Benny gives Dean a knife, dulled down for child safety but clearly real. It’s a pirate’s cutlass, he insists, and nods when he catches Mary testing it. 

So she lets her baby go swinging a real silver prop and pretends she doesn’t notice the salt in the tubes of Sam’s little astronaut costume, more than happy to let John carry him around fully demon-proof. 

Jo and Benny don’t stay over very often, their house is just a short walk over, but it’s late and they’ve all drunk more than they should have. Dean even wakes up around midnight, coming down the stairs to find them all laughing a little too loud, sprawled out on the couches. 

“I saw Cas!” He announces, and Mary can see how Benny and Jo stiffen at that, even as she collects her boy to her chest and smiles, warm from more than the beer. 

“Oh yeah? And what did he say?” Mary asks, bemused at how serious Dean’s little face is as he scrunches it up in concentration. 

“Sammy needs paint.” Dean informs her, deciding that was all she needed to know before heading back up the stairs. John follows, saying he’ll tuck Dean in and check on Sam besides. Mary raises an eyebrow at her cousins, who cough awkwardly. 

“Well, his room could use a touch up.” Jo offers, looking anywhere but her. Benny rolls his eyes, elbowing his brother before giving Mary the most serious look she’s seen on him. 

“What this idiot is trying to say is we want to put a Devil’s Trap on the ceiling.”

“Salt around the crib too, probably under the rug.” Jo adds, like they’re not suggesting her baby might be in danger. 

“Wh–” Mary is speechless, and Benny hurries to explain himself before she can properly yell.

“I know you’re out, and trust me, we want nothing more for the two of you to stay out, but...Jo and I have heard things.” Benny pauses, gauging her reaction, and Mary is torn. She wants to scream and cry, wants to collect her kids and run. But the alcohol slows everything down, and her hunter instincts take over like they always have. 

“What do you know?” Her eyes are sharp when she leans forward, pleasant buzz turned to a thrumming in her veins. Hunters were always wired a little differently, to drink as much as they did, and in this Mary was no different. 

“Incidents here and there, a demon showing up in the bedrooms of infants right around Sammy’s age. We haven't’ caught him yet, but we think…” Benny trails off, and Mary grits her teeth. 

“You want to use my son as bait.” She spits, and Jo has the decency to look ashamed. Benny stares her head on. 

“And what’s the alternative? He passes on Sam, sure, but he’ll just keep going. We trap him, gank him, and it’s done.” Benny insists, and Mary wants to throw up. 

She can hear John, a quiet melody floating down the stairs. How would she explain this to John? Then again, how would she explain it if this demon succeeded? She wants to ask why her, why her cousins didn’t try this at another house if they’ve come so close. Mary doesn’t ask; she already knows why. Nobody else would understand, and Mary curses the fact that she does. 

“If...if I agree to this, I don’t want to see you two again. Do this and get out of Lawrence, out of the state, out of the goddamn country. I don’t want to see your faces again.” Mary hisses, and Jo and Benny share sad smiles. She’s too upset for that, doesn’t want to think about how this is hurting  _ them  _ when they’re the ones asking this. 

Sam’s nursery is empty and Mary almost screams when John leaves Dean’s room, Sammy asleep in the crook of his arm. 

“Dean wanted to sing to him too.” John whispers, passing Sam over without question when Mary reaches. He wraps an arm around her and they both stare at their son, peacefully asleep. Mary wants to focus on him, but all she can think about is the other children, the babies that might come after him. 

“What’s up?” John asks gently. He could always read her, even if he’d never quite know her, and Mary sighed. 

“Benny and Jo are thinking about moving.” She tells him, kisses him goodnight and puts Sam to bed. 

Benny and Jo are crammed on the couch, half-dozing when Mary cracks open another beer and drinks it entirely. They don’t speak until she’s halfway through a second one. 

“What’s the plan?” 

– 

There’s a lot Mary doesn’t want to know, that she’s been told unwillingly and strives to forget, but finding out how Benny and Jo have the exact date is something she’ll never, ever want. 

They arrange it carefully, Benny and Jo are selling their house so of course they have to stay over, bedding down on the floor of Sam’s room is just easiest. John jokes they’re on baby duty for the night, and Mary pretends she doesn’t see how seriously they nod. 

She pushes away the guilt as she crushes a sleeping pill in John’s water, smiles at her husband and shuts the door quietly as his head hits the pillow. Dean’s room has been salted, door firmly shut, and Benny and Jo are painting the trap when she walks into Sam’s. 

“I want to do it.” She says firmly, and neither of them question what she means. Her cousins hadn’t put down anything to sleep on, instead sitting in either corner of the room like mishappen furniture. 

“You’ll need this.” Benny hands her a gun, and Mary turns it in her hands, old memories sparking. 

“Is this…” 

“The only thing that can get this son of a bitch.” Benny nods, and Mary stares at the Colt with a mixture of fear and determination. She takes up her place outside the door, Benny and Jo assuring they’ll call when it starts. 

She’s too strung up to sleep, stares at Dean’s door while she waits. Her youngest son is in danger and all she can do is sit and wait. 

It’s late at night when she hears it, a muffled exorcism that has her throwing the door open. Benny has Sam in his arms, back to the center of the room where Jo is grappling with a man– no, Mary revises, not a man. 

Those yellow eyes turn to face her, and the demon’s face twists into a smug leer. Mary raises the colt with an unwavering hand, and takes pleasure in watching the face turn fearful before a single shot makes the demon go slack. 

Jo drops the body like it burned him, staring at it with a revulsion that made Mary wonder how personal this was for the boys. 

At the sound of a cry, Mary drops the Colt and grabs Sam from Benny, cooing and gushing at her baby until he stops wailing, blinking his big teary eyes at her. She can’t see anything different about him, but looks to her cousins to confirm. 

“He’s good. Sammy’s safe.” Benny answers, but he’s looking at Jo, and Mary sighs in relief. Biting her lip, she looks around the wreckage of Sam’s nursery. Whoever that demon was, he put up a fight. 

“Clean this up. Or you won’t get breakfast.” Mary adds, turning and leaving the room before she thinks too hard about how happy Benny and Jo seem. 

She gets into Dean’s bed like she had when he was even smaller, placing Sam very carefully between them and just watching both her sons breath. Mary knows she isn’t sleeping that night, but having her children there with her is relaxing. 

“Excuse me.” Mary whirls, one arm thrown protectively over her boys as she comes face to face with…a man in a trenchcoat?

“Don’t be alarmed. My name is Castiel, and I’m...an angel.” The angel’s smile has a twist, like he’s trying not to laugh, and Mary isn’t any less on guard. 

“Please, I’m here to protect your boys. Neither Hell nor Heaven will have them, I promise you.” Castiel says, sincerity and solemnity radiating from his gaze. Or maybe that’s the actual light, glowing as he moves closer. Mary tenses, but he merely puts a hand to her forehead. There’s a faint glow and Mary blinks, unsure of what just happened. 

The angel gestures, and Mary moves before she realizes it, picking up Sam as Castiel leans over and touches Dean’s sleeping forehead. Another glow, and he’s repeating the gesture to Sam, who wiggles once and goes still. 

“Wait, you’re really?” Mary asks, half whispering where she wants to yell. This night is too much for her. Castiel nods, smiling almost fondly at her sons. 

“Your assessment was correct, Mary Winchester. I am indeed watching over them, though now they will be left alone. Raise them well.” And with that, Castiel vanishes in a flash of light, and Mary sits back against the wall and wonders if she should cry. 

Probably not. 

The next morning, John stumbles into Dean’s room, groggy and confused but more than willing to squeeze on the other side of Dean. 

“Why the sleepover?” He rumbles, voice thick and low as Dean buries his head in John’s neck, sleepily searching out his father. Mary shrugs, watching as Sam pulls her hair. He’d grabbed a curl when Mary had propped her head on her elbow, and now she hold him still with one hand splayed over his little tummy, feeling the rise and fall. 

“Some family time seemed...right.” Mary offers, and John accepts it, placing his hand over hers and falling back asleep. 

When they finally get downstairs, Benny – and Jo, but mostly Benny – have made breakfast and packed their bags. 

The offer on their new house had gone through, and they wanted to get over and unpacked as soon as they could, Jo explains, while Mary avoids looking at them. When she goes to feed Sam, Benny follows her, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Take care of yourself alright? You and your boys...they need you.” Benny tells her, and Mary can’t decipher the look in his eyes. 

There’s been a lot of that, she muses, things she doesn’t know and doesn’t want to know. Abruptly, she realizes this must be what it’s like to be a civilian caught up in hunter business, and she can’t help the laugh that escapes her. 

Throwing her arms around her cousins, Mary hugs them tightly, putting her hands on their cheeks as they stare at her, confused. 

“Don’t be strangers, ok? We’re family.” Mary tells them, and it takes a moment but they smile at her, bright and familiar and strange. John helps them move boxes into their truck, and Dean holds her leg as they stand on the porch and watch her cousins back out. 

Shading her eyes from the sun, Mary squints, wondering what the flash of tan in the backseat could be. 

“Wonder when they’ll be back.” John muses, swinging Dean onto his shoulders as he walks back inside. Mary pauses, unsure if she should tell him that they won’t, not really. They’re hunters, and whatever might’ve happened the night before, their hunt wasn’t over. 

Mary decides against it, just smiles and follows her husband inside. 

– 

It’s years and years before Mary thinks about her mysterious Campbell cousins again. John brings them up the first few months or so, idle curiosity that gets pushed aside as Dean gets bigger and Sam starts catching up. 

Actually, once Sam started growing he’d never really stopped, and Mary still can’t believe how big her baby had been when they’d seen him off the Stanford, towering over even Dean, who’d aggressively ruffled his hair like it would shrink him back down. 

Dean had joined John in the auto shop right after school, but agreed to get into college after a year and suddenly was off getting his masters. It’d been a few years since she’d seen both of her boys at once, and Mary is suddenly nervous. 

Sam had told her all about his pretty new girlfriend over the phone, and Dean had been hesitant with John in earshot, but there was something about a friend of his that Mary hoped he would bring to Thanksgiving. She’d already resolved to tie down John if he tried anything, so really she’s just waiting at this point. 

“You think any of the rest of your family will come?” John calls from the couch, where his glasses are halfway down his nose as he reads the newspaper. Mary hums, double triple checking the turkey wasn’t burnt. She may have expanded her culinary skills beyond the Winchester Special, but that didn’t mean their kitchen is safe. 

“Don’t think so. They’re pretty hard to get in touch with.” Mary replies, resolving to take the turkey out and just microwave it if it turned out undercooked. 

Folding his paper, John stands and rights his glasses, digging through the fridge for his contribution to dinner. Mary handles the turkey and the pie, and John figures out the sides, that’s their arrangement. 

“Yeah, guess so.” He’s quiet though, and Mary wonders if he’s thinking the same as her. 

There’s a rumble outside, the sound of one car, then two. John perks up, and Mary swears he has the sound of the Impala engraved over his heart or something equally permanent, because he always recognizes it. Mary’s secretly glad, though, since the Impala means Dean is back. 

The second car is unfamiliar, but as Mary and John make their way onto their porch, Mary recognizes the shaggy head popping out from the driver’s side. Sam really needs a haircut, honestly, but at least his girlfriend seemed sweet enough. 

Mary watches as Dean hops out of the Impala, mid-bicker with his passenger, who apparently is not up to leaving yet. He ducks his head back into the car, and doesn’t notice Sam sneaking up behind him. 

Mary buries her face in John’s shoulder, snickering as Dean yelps, picked clean off the ground by Sam, who’s struggling under his flailing brother. 

“What did we feed those two?” John whispers, and Mary mock smacks his arm, wrapping her own around his waist. 

Sam finally sets Dean down, and her firstborn tackles her second almost immediately, sending them staggering back while Sam’s girlfriend laughs. She’s pulling bags out of the truck and introducing herself to Dean’s passenger, who still hasn’t gotten out of the car. 

Sam and Dean apparently resolve their differences, as Dean’s pulling Sam upright when she looks back, swinging one arm around Sam’s shoulder and ruffling his hair. Frowning, Mary wonders why she feels this scene is so familiar. 

Dean’s passenger has exited, a tall man with messy hair and a long trenchcoat. Mary goes still, holding her breath until the stranger turns around. Blue eyes, not glowing but still intense. John notices, of course, gives her a questioning squeeze, but Mary shakes her head, unable to answer. 

Dean calls his friend, who turns to look at him, and then Mary sees it. 

“Huh. Guess they took after your side of the family.” John remarks, and Mary breathes out a shaky laugh, raising a hand to greet her boys. He’d never know how right he was; Mary had the feeling she didn’t quite either.

Just like they did all those years ago, Sam and Dean walk up to the porch, but this time she hugs them close and doesn’t let go. This time, it’s not hunters that walk in her house, and Mary is grateful. 

**Author's Note:**

> Spn is ending, and it's going to be so weird, so here's a fix-it for like the entire series. Started writing this at 3am and it's basically been left that way, but whatever. 
> 
> If you're wondering what happens to the future version of the boys, I figure they recover the bunker and live their lives taking care of the hunter crap that younger them aren't there to deal with. Is that really Cas at the end or did Dean find Jimmy Novak somehow? Honestly, I left it vague on purpose, but I do like to think Cas gets to know humanity even in this new timeline. 
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading


End file.
